Apparatus for automatically feeding and stitching slide fastener stringers to garment fly pieces



0, 1953 M. K. ROHRLICK ET AL 5 ,88

APPARATUS FOR AU'TO!J|ATICALI..Y FEEDING AND STITCHING I SLIDE FASTENER STRINGERS TO GARMENT FLY PIECES Original Filed June 8, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l 7 -5 I /l/ 535i ii p u- F9- E. I Imam,

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WMEZMI'M 20, 1953 M. K. ROHRLICK ET AL 8 APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY FEEDING AND STITCHING SLIDE FASTENER STRINGERS TO GARMENT FLY PIECES Original Filed June 8. 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 55 2 I I57 'o ,|'l C l M A r56 j flaembm In" aezzizozwglm 4Q ilio/Irma i Q- q 2,655,884 ING AND STITCHING s TO GARMENT FLY P IECES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 i- 0, 1 M. K. ROHRLICK ET AL APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY FEED SLIDE FASTENER STRINGER Original Filed June 8, 1950 Patented Oct. 20, 1953 APPARATUS FOR -AUTOMATICALLY FEED- ING ANDv STITCHING SLIDE FASTENER STRINGERS T GARMENT FLY PIECES Michael King Rohrlick and J can Eleanor r Rohrlick, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Original application June 8, 1950, Serial No.

166,814, now Patent No. 2,574,351, dated No vember 6, 1951. Divided and. this. application. September 14, 1951, Serial N0'..246,-688

This; invention; relates: to an apparatus. for automatically feeding and; stitching slide. fas tener stringers to: garment fly pieces.-

This'application is azdivision of our application S. N; 166,814, filed June-8, 1950,.n0wPatentNo'. 2,574,351, dated November-6, 1951.

Aparticular objectof this inventionisto providea. device for feeding successive strips of garment" pieces; intended to be secured by slide fasteners; suchas flies to a working bed in endto-end relationand to'continuously feed a: slide fastenerstringer. thereto. so, that the flies and stringer. may becontinuously stitched together throughout the length of the stringer.

Anotherobject is to provide-ameansfor. continuously feedingthe stringer-to. the work to be stitched together without the necessity of any handling of the-stringer by theoperator.

A .further object is to provideapparatus capa ble of use in continuously stitching a stringer to successive fly pieces so that there willbe nowaste of stringer material when separating the. fly pieces.

An additional object is to provide a novelapparatus for continuously guiding a. stringer to. the working bed for. stitching thestringer to suecessive fly pieces.

Still a further object is to provide improved means for feeding and guiding a stringer to a working bed without'manipulation byanoperator during the sewing operationofthe fly or, other work pieces .to' the fly pieces.

Still-another object of the invention is to;pro vide a novel arrangement for stopping the feed ofthe stringer positively when the sewing ma!- chine stops between. successive operations.

The above and further objects andcharacteristic features of. this; invention will be understood more readily from the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. Lisan .endview of an apparatus embodying-the invention.

Fig: 2' is an;enlarged sectionalview; of a. por;- tionzofthe apparatus alongthe line: 2.-2 of Fig. .3.

Fig. 3. is-a top planrview of the'unreeling apparatus: shown' in Fig; 1..

Fig; 4 is: an enlarged detail. of. the. presser: foot and attached portions.

Fig. 5 is a detail taken along the. line-5-5 of Fig; 4.

Fig.6. is'a detailualong" the line 5-6 ofFFig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a view showing-'themanner in; which certain pieces ofwork are fedzand sewntogether.

Fig. .81 is a view' showing the; manner inwhich certain. other pieces are fed. and sewn together;

12 Claims. (CL 112.-2)-

Referring. more particularly to the. drawin s, 5. generally. designatesaconventional sewingmachinev including. a... working bed. 6..- and a. sewing head I I having the standard mechanical driving apparatus and stitch forming mechanism, include ing-a presser. foot bar. 8..and'.needle bar 9.; Although .we, have -.shown .only a single. needle type machine for illustrative purposes, a. conventional doubleneedle machine of thistypemay. be employedfwhere. doublerows of stitching are needed.

. Thepresser footbar. hasconventional mechanism (not shown). for. lowering. and. raising the presser foot. to. operative, and. inoperative. positions. The presser. foot, employed. in. this invention. includes ablock lllhaving an .openingin whichthepresser foot bar. dissecured by. thumb screw H. and aflatpresser. foot'plate I2 extending forwardly of block. H1. Plate I2; is providedwith a central. needle. opening. l3. and is grooved along one. side,. as. indicated at. It, accommodating. theattached coupling links of. a slideiastener stringer as the stringer. passes beheath-the presser foot plate. Whenusing the double. needle machine,,the plate [2 will be provided with a pair of 'centralneedleopenings but will be otherwise constructed the same asabove described.

The forward end'of plate 12 is provided with an upwardly curved stringer. guide l5 for feedingthestringer directly beneath the presser foot. Guide l5,is.grooved; as indicated at [6,,along the under surface adjacent one side of "the forward section of. the. guide and has an intermediate tubular. section H. which has its lower end disposedadjacent to presser plate I2.. Tubular section I! issubstantially flattened asindicated' at l8, throughout a substantial portion. of the Width to receivethe stringer and has a portion along, one side outwardly expanded, as indicated at 19, to accommodate the attached coupling links. of said stringer.- The. expanded tubular portion is is interposed between and aligned" with" the groove l6 along the underside of theforward section of guide l5. andthe side groove It in the presser foot plate l2.

A. slide fastener stringer 20; having coupling links 20a attached along one side edge, is fed from' a reel 2| througha guide loop 22mounted adjacent one sideof the reel. A" bracket 23 mounted on the sewing head I carries a conventional'tension device i l-through which the stringer from the reel is: passed to the-presser foot guide l5. Theslide fastenerstringer zo-is wound about the hub25 of the'reel between: upper and lower flanged: discs. 26; and". 26a." which. are fastenedto' hub .25ibywashers'21 and clamping; nuts received on the threaded ends 29 of the hub. A disc-like pan 30 having upturned extensions is positioned adjacent the under-surface of lower disc 26a. Pan 30 is provided with a central opening which is complementary to the side surfaces of lower nut 28. The pan is slidably fitted over the lower end of the hub 25 about the lower nut 28 so as to be rotated by the nut when the reel is rotated. When the pan is positioned ad- ,iacent disc 2311, the upturned extensions 3! project beyond the peripheral edge of disc 26a and serve to prevent the stringer 20 from side slipping on the reel.

The reel 2| with the pan 39 positioned adjacent thereto is mounted for rotation about the upper threaded end of a vertical spindle 32. The spindle is arranged for vertical movement in sleeve 33 mounted on a flanged collar 34 which is fastened to the upper side of the working bed 6. A su porting arm 35, having a second flanged collar 35 fitted in an opening 3'! and secured thereto by bolts 38, is mounted on the upper end of sleeve 33 in screw-threaded engagement, as indicated at 39. A friction or bra e disc 40 is secured to the upper surface of the flanged portion of collar 36 by bolts or other suitable means 38. When the reel is mounted on the spindle, the lower end of hub 25 proiects into the sleeve 33 to rest on the upper surface of a ball bearing housing 4! which is supported on an adiusting nut 42. Nut 42 is movable on the upper threaded portion of spindle 32 for vertical adjustment of the reel and may be secured in position by a second nut 43.

The lower end of spindle 32 extends through a suitable opening in the working bed 3 and has its lower end supported in a cup 44 at one end of a lever arm 45 which is pivotally secured at 46 intermediate its length to a bracket 47 fastened to the under side of working bed 6. The other end of lever bar 45 is connected to a treadle plate 48 by suitable linking means 49. A switch actuating mechanism 59 connected at one end to treadle 48 operates a conventional switch (not shown) of a motor which is connected by a belt 52 to the driving pulley 53 of the sewing machine.

When the rear end of treadle 48, which is pivoted at 54, is depressed, as shown in full line in Figure 1, the switch actuating mechanism 58 starts the sewing machine motor. At the same time, lever arm 35, through link 49, raises the spindle 32 thus releasing frictional pressure between the reel and the brake disc 40 allowing rotation of the reel for feeding the stringer to and beneath the presser foot during the stitching operation of the machine. When the rear end of the treadle is raised, as shown in dotted line, switch mechanism 50 shuts 01f the motor and at the same time the cup end 44 of lever arm 45 is lowered to provide frictional pressure of the reel against the brake disc 40. The frictional pressure is brought about by the weight of the reel on the pan 3B which rotates with the reel, the pan 3?] bearing against brake disc 40 under pressure of the reel. When the motor is shut off and the sewing action ceases, the feeding of the stringer from the reel likewise ceases and rotation of the reel is prevented until a further sewing operation is commenced.

The supporting arm 35, which is rotatable on the upper end of sleeve 33, has one end extending beyond the outer periphery of the reel. The free end is provided with a spacer block 56 to which a centering arm 41 is hingedly secured, as indicated at 58. The centering arm 51 is provided with a central opening 59 in which the upper end of spindle 32 is received. A washer 60 is fastened to the under side of arm 51 about opening 53. lhe upper end of spindle 32 projects through the opening in the washer and into the opening 59 so as to centre the free end of the spindle. The free end of centering arm 51 is provided with a downwardly projecting bracket 5! to which the guide loop 22 is attached. A set-screw 62 projecting through the hinged end of centering arm 5! bears against spacer block 56 for vertical adjustment of the centering arm. The vertical adjustment is intended to prevent vertical movement of the reel beyond the vertical movement provided by the raising of the reel by the action of the lever arm 35 against the spindle 32.

The presser foot, as herein illustrated, is adapted for the feeding of stringers which are fed to a piece of work with the attached coupling links arranged along the right hand side edge of the stringer. It will be appreciated that for the feeding of stringers having the attached coupling links arranged on the left hand side, a reverse presser foot will be employed. The difference between such a presser foot and the one illustrated will consist in providing a guide groove IS, an expanded tubular portion l9 and presser foot plate groove I4 adjacent the opposite side edge thereof. With the employment of this apparatus, the stringer is continuously fed from the reel to and beneath the presser foot and is sewn onto the work without necessity of handling by an operator at any time during the sewing operation.

The main purpose of the apparatus is to provide an automatic feed of the slide fastener stringer without the necessity of handling the stringer so that the operator may be better able to feed successive pieces of work to the working bed and stitch the stringer continuously to the successive pieces of work.

A particular adaptation of the apparatus is in uninterrupted stitching of stringers to garment fly pieces.

As shown in Figure 7, the stringer 23 which is fed to the presser foot with the attached coupling links along th left hand side edge of the stringer, is stitched to a fly piece 73 which is known in the trade as a white fly. In order to accomplish the continuous stitching, We have provided each of the white fly pieces 13 with a notch H at a point on the lower end of the fly piece where the zipper fastener normally terminates. It will be seen that there is an incurved extension 12 of the fly piece which is adapted to be connected to the crotch of the garment. This extension 12 is beyond the notch H. In sewing the stringer to the white fly piece 50, the side edge of the stringer remote from the coupling links is disposed along the notched side edge of the fly. The fly piece is fed, lower end first. The lower end is fed under the presser foot in the direction indicated by the arrow A in Figure 7. The presser foot is then lowered and the stringer and fly are stitched together from the notch H to the remot end of the fly. The sewing operation is then suspended by the action of the foot treadle 48 which, at the same time, lowers the reel into frictional pressure with the brake disc, thus stopping rotation of the reel. The presser foot is then raised as indicated by the vertical arrow B and the next fly piece is inserted, bottom end first, with the extension 72 underlying the adjacent end of the preceding fly piece 10, as indicated at 13. This next White fly is positioned with its notch 'il adjacent the end of the preceding fly and the presser mamas-a foot'islowered and the stitching"operation'of the stringer to the second fly is repeated in the manner above-described. Si'iccessiveawhite fly pieces are sewn in end-to-end relation the above manner throughout the lengthof .theestringer. as-the length of stringer is unwoundfrom the'reel and fedto the working bed .beneaththe presser foot. When this is accomplished, the operator willithen cut thestringer at the notched-point ofth fly to separate the fly pieces-. Since: one endof each fly piece is adjacent the notched end of thesuccessive, fly pieces, there will be. no waste. of.the stringer.

In Figure 8 we have shown. separate pieces known in the trade as black fly pieces. The black fly pieces 14 are notched at 15 along one side near the lower end in the manner described with reference to the white fly pieces, adjacent the lower crotch piece extension 16. The black fly piece is stitched to a stringer which is fed through a right hand presser foot so that the stringer will have its attached coupling links along the right hand side edge. The black fly 14 is fed along the working bed in the direction of the arrow C with a stay liner Tl underneath th black fly, the end of the black fly remote from the crotch extension 16 being fed first. The stringer is stitched to the top of the black fly centrally thereof with the coupling links on the side nearest the notched side of the fly. The stitching secures the stringer, fly and stay liner together throughout the length of the fly to the notch 15. The sewing operation is then suspended and the reel stopped, in the manner above described, Then the presser foot is raised as indicated by the vertical arrow D and the crotch extension 16 is folded under as indiacted at 16a. The next black fly piece M and stay liner T! are positioned with their ends 18 adjacent the notch of the preceding fly piece. The presser foot is then lowered and stitching and stringer feeding operations are continued down to the notch 15. Successive black fly and stay liners are fed and stitched in the same manner throughout the length of the stringer. The operator then cuts the stringer at points along its length indicated by the notch of each fly piece. With the above described positioning of the successive fly pieces there will be no waste of the stringer.

The stringers for the white and black flies are separately provided with male and female coupling links and the stringer of each fly piece is fed and secured to the separate fly pieces in such a manner as to provide interlocking of the male and female coupling links when the black and white fly pieces are assembled.

We claim:

1. In combination with a sewing machine having a working bed and mechanism operable for stitching and feeding work together along the working bed, a vertically arranged reel supporting spindle mounted for vertical movement, a reel rotatably mounted about the axis of said spindle, and vertically movable therewith, a brake mechanism positioned adjacent said reel, spindle actuating means operable to cause vertical movement of said spindle to move said reel into and out of braking pressure relation with said brake mechanism for stopping and starting the reel, means to lead material from the reel to the feeding and stitching mechanism, driving means for said stitching and feeding mechanism, control means for said driving means, and means controlled by said control means to operate said spindle actuating means so as to move said spindle vertically to engage and disengage the brake mechanismas said driving means are rendered inoperative and operative; respectively, said" reel being rotatable independently of I said driving ineansa 2; In' combination" with a sewing machinehaving" a working bed and mechanismoperable for stitching and feeding work' together along. the working bed, a reel'supporting spindle mounted forverti'cal movement; a reel'rotatably mounted on'- said." spindle; a brake mechanism positioned adjacent said'reel, spindle actuating means operable for vertical movement of 'said spindle-to movesaid" reel into and-out of braking pressure relation with said brakefor stopping and starting the reel, means to-lead material from the reelto the feeding and stitching mechanism, driving means for saldstitching and feeding mechanism, control'means for-said driving means, and means controlled by said control means to operate said spindle actuating means so as to move said spindle vertically to engage and disengage the brake mechanism as said driving means are rendered inoperative and operative, respectively, said reel being rotatable independently of said drivingmeans.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2, said spindle being threaded at its upper reel receiving end and having a reel supporting adjusting nut screwthreaded thereon for vertical adjustment of said reel relative to the spindle.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, including a bearing member slidably fitted on said spindle between said reel and said adjusting nut.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2, including a sleeve mounted on the Working bed through which said spindle extends for vertical movement relative to said sleeve, a supporting bar mounted for rotation on said sleeve beneath thereel, said brake mechanism being carried by the supporting bar and being positioned for braking rotation of the reel when the reel is lowered in response to vertical descent of the spindle.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5, including a stringer retaining pan arranged between said brake and reel to rotate with the latter and to engage said brake frictionally for stopping rotation of the reel when the reel is lowered.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5, including a spindle centering bar having one end pivotally connected to said supporting bar to overlie said reel and said spindle, said centering bar being provided with an opening into which the upper end of said spindle is received, and means carried by said centering bar to bear against the supporting bar for adjustment of the centering bar to limit elevation of the reel.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2, said spindle actuating means comprising a lever arm pivoted intermediate its length to rotate about a horizontal axis, said control means including a treadle, said lever having one end engaging the lower end of said spindle and the other end linked to said treadle, so as to rotate said lever arm for imparting vertical motion to said spindle when said treadle is actuated.

9. In combination with a sewing machine hav-' ing driving means and work feeding and stitching mechanism operated thereby, a reel for holding a slide fastener stringer mounted for free rotation on said machine, means to lead the stringer from such reel to the feeding and stitching mechanism, control means operable to render said driving means selectively operative and inoperative to operate said feeding and stitching mechanism, means associated with the reel and independent of said driving means to brake the reel,

and means interconnecting said brake means and said control means to render said two means simultaneously operative and inoperative.

10. In combination with a sewing machine as claimed in claim 2, said reel being composed of opposed spaced plate members, one of said members having projections from its periphery slanted towards the plane of the other member.

11. In combination with a sewing machine as claimed in claim 2, said reel being composed of opposed. discs, and upwardly sloping projections from the periphery of the lower disc.

12. In a device as claimed in claim 11, said leading means including a guide member adjacent the periphery of the reel having a horizontal slot therein for receiving the stringer.

MICHAEL KING ROI-IRLICK. JOAN ELEANOR ROHRLICK.

References Cited in the 'file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 7 Date Berthelot May 31, 1904 Hayes et a1 Jan. 12, 1915 Spoor et al. May 9, 1933 Carmichael et al. Aug. 13, 1935 Engel May 3, 1938 Pitts et al. Aug. 2, 1938 Evans Dec. 16, 1941 Kellum Sept. 21, 1943 Bagwell Dec. 25, 1945 Johnston Nov. 14, 1950 

